Honest Property Investment with Natasha Collins

The latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor suggests tenant demand remains subdued across much of the UK commercial property market, but what does that actually mean for investors?In this episode, I look beyond the headlines and explore how weak occupier demand impacts leasing negotiations, incentives, void periods and ultimately investment performance.I share how I'm adjusting my own deal analysis in response to current market conditions, including increasing void assumptions, allowing for longer rent-free periods and taking a more conservative approach to underwriting acquisitions.Topics covered include:What the latest RICS occupier market data is telling usWhy weak tenant demand doesn't always show up in headline rentsThe difference between headline rent and net effective rentHow negotiating power shifts when tenants have more optionsWhy leasing transactions are taking longer to completeThe growing divide between prime and secondary assetsHow I'm changing my underwriting assumptions in today's marketThe occupier market data isn't telling me to stop investing. It's telling me to be realistic. If a deal still works when you allow for longer voids, greater incentives and slower transactions, it's likely to be a much stronger investment.

Join the Members Club Waiting List HEREMost commercial property investors don’t struggle with finding deals — they struggle with how they assess them. In this episode, I introduce the Commercial Property Acquisition Strategy Framework, the structured system we use at NC Real Estate to analyse every acquisition opportunity, starting with Lens One: Strategy Fit. Using 91–92 Darlington Street in Wolverhampton as a live example — a £315,000 freehold with a vacant ground floor and upper floors producing £11,150 per annum (a headline yield of just 3.5%) — I explain why surface numbers are often misleading. By pulling real rental comparables across the city centre and underwriting the ground floor conservatively at £14–£20 per sq ft, the stabilised income shifts to approximately £26,000–£31,000 per annum, moving the yield into the 8–10% range. The real question, therefore, is not “Can I get all my money back in 12 months?” but “What does this asset become under my control over five years?” Lens One forces you to consider whether a deal strengthens your income base, diversifies tenant exposure, and aligns with a 5–10 year portfolio strategy, rather than chasing short-term capital recycling. Strategic investors focus on trajectory, optionality and long-term positioning — and that shift in thinking is what separates transaction chasing from true portfolio building.

In this episode, I tackle one of the most common (and most frustrating) sticking points I see when investors assess commercial property deals:“Is the uplift enough to get all, or most, of my money out?”It’s an understandable question — but when it becomes the only question you ask, it will stop you buying almost anything.Using the same commercial property deal, I walk through what that question looks like over 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, and show how dramatically the pressure, risk, and probability of success changes hookup change depending on the timeframe you’re forcing onto the deal.Nothing about the property changes. Only the expectations do.Why focusing solely on “getting all your money out” is a mental handbrakeHow compressed timeframes make good deals look bad on paperThe real cost of trying to force a one-year refinanceWhat changes (and what doesn’t) when you give a deal 3 yearsWhy a 5-year timeframe is often the most stress-free and realistic optionHow lenders, valuers, leases and rent events behave over timeWhy time is the cheapest form of risk reduction in commercial propertyHow to assess deals without forcing certainty too earlyCommercial property isn’t about forcing a deal to perform quickly.It’s about giving it enough time to do what it naturally does.If every deal you analyse almost works but never quite stacks up — the problem is rarely the deal.It’s the timeframe you’re forcing onto it.You can book a call with us here: https://ncrealestate.co.uk/bookacall/

In this episode, I’m joined by Gerard Davis, a qualified commercial solicitor and Business Development Manager at Talbots Law, to break down a real commercial property deal involving lock-up garages — and why this type of asset can be a smart, low-barrier entry point into commercial property.We talk through Gerard’s purchase of 12 lock-up garages for £51,000, how he identified that the asset was significantly under-rented, and why the value in the deal came from fixing the income, not development. By using commercial agents to increase rents and re-let units properly, the income was stabilised and later supported a RICS valuation of £140,000.We also discuss how Gerard structured the deal long term by selling the asset into his SSAS pension, allowing rental income to be received tax free within the pension — and why getting the legal and professional advice right is critical when using this type of strategy.This episode is particularly useful if you’re:Investing in residential and considering moving into commercialCurious about under-rented assets and income-led value creationExploring lock-ups as a first commercial investmentInterested in pension-led property strategies such as SSASTalbots Law: https://www.talbotslaw.co.uk/site/people/gerard-davis/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerard-davis-solicitor-a1a923155/🔗 Connect with Gerard

Happy New Year! The podcast is back. Today I start by discussing what I'm focusing on in my commercial property portfolio, why I still hate Air BnB.The main topic of the week is about what I mean when I talk about risk and yields and what yields I'm expecting to see from each commercial property type in 2026.My question for you: What commercial property yield are you targeting this year?

In this episode, Steve Wallis and I sit down to unpack what the latest UK Budget really means for commercial property investors. There’s been so much noise, speculation and confusion over the past week, so we’re cutting through the chaos and focusing purely on what impacts you if you own, manage or plan to buy commercial property.We break down the new tax rules on property income coming in from 2027, including the introduction of separate tax bands for rental profits and what this means if you hold property in your personal name versus through an SPV. We also discuss the increases to dividend tax, how this affects anyone extracting profits from a company, and why overall this Budget pushes investors even further towards using corporate structures.Together, we cover the changes to salary sacrifice pension contributions, the government’s tougher stance on HMRC enforcement, and the move towards more automatic and regular tax payments for Self Assessment — all of which will influence cashflow planning and portfolio management.By the end of the episode, you’ll understand exactly what’s changing, how it affects your current investments, and where the opportunities now sit. If you want to talk through how this applies to your personal strategy, you can book a call with my team at https://ncrealestate.co.uk/bookacall